Dishes
by Ancient Liddel
Summary: Dishes were something Ann never liked, which was strange considering cleaning was something she enjoyed. But dishes weren't the only thing she disliked. Funny how things change. A one-shot which morphed into a three-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my planned 'one-shot' which morphed into a three-shot lol!  
I have no idea what happened there! :O**

**But this is not in anyway related to my long fic, _A Secret Not So Secret_; this is a separate story altogether. And I know I need to start writing chapter 14 of it - I barely begun it! :O Don't kill me...  
**

**Oh, and the title - Ik! Not exactly the best in the world; they never were my strong point lol  
And this of course is a Jack x Ann fan fic - cause they are also an awesome couple! There needs to be more fics of them! :D  
**

**So this is written in 1st person past tense... or at least I attempted it; I don't know, but I found it a bit difficult and I probably messed up in places lol Oh well...  
No, but seriously, if there's something wrong with it - pleeaase let me know! I wanna improve! lol!  
**

**Anyways, enjoy! :D  
**

* * *

"Ha! I tolddd youu I'dd winn handss dowwwn!" a female voice hiccuped.

I glanced up from wiping down the counter. Yup. Another one of Karen and Duke's drinking contest. When will that stubborn vintner learn that he will never beat the wine-loving Karen at her own game? Like nobody, _nobody_ could pack 'em away like my friend Karen, even Kai couldn't. And you would expect him to at least be able to hold his liquor with all the exotic liquors he would drink on his travels. Hehe. Now _that's_ a funny story: let's just say that his pride and ego was majorly shredded when Karen whooped him in drinking. Though he drove me nuts with his whining after the drinking contest... and few days after that and basically the rest of his stay. I had to refrain myself from beating him senseless with any object I could find. But, Dad always said that it was bad for business, which it is. It would have been cool though.

But just like Kai, _he still tries_ to beat her. Some men I guess are just stubborn that way.

As I looked around the Inn, I noticed that Manna wasn't here yet which was surprising considering the amount of ruckus that had recently happened during the contest; she should be here soon though in about five... four... three... two... one...

"Duke!"

Just on time. If I were Duke, I would try to get my bearings and run. But with all that liquor in him, he won't be moving much for awhile. I wouldn't want to be him when he wakes up sober.

"Ann, there's a pile of dishes in the kitchen that still need to be done. Would you kindly go do them?" a familiar voice belonging to my Dad interrupted my thoughts.

"But Dad!-"

"I'm not going to ask you a second time." His mustache twitched. That was always a sign _not_ to push the matter, even though I had a perfectly good reason _not_ to do them.

Defeated, I slowly dragged myself into the back where our kitchen resided.

Dishes... ugh! Yeah, I enjoyed cleaning as much as the next person—honest! Those were the times where everything around me melted away and my thoughts became my only focus. I loved those times. But dishes—_ugh_ again! They were always a nightmare! I didn't know if it was the gross factor of it (even though I've done a hell of a lot grosser jobs... which I won't mention) or if it was... Gah! I didn't know exactly; I just didn't like doing them!

And to top it off, I had to wash them _by hand!_ Why? Cause Dad said that it cleans them better... or like that. Really, I never paid attention to his reason.

Halfway through washing those dreaded dishes, a shiver went down my spine. I knew that something unpleasant was coming my way. It's almost like a sixth sense to me... well, maybe not exactly, but I've always liked to think that it was.

Sure enough, just when I thought things couldn't get more dreadful, I heard a voice which quite frankly I didn't want to hear at the moment. "How's my favorite waitress doing today?" Yup! I was right! Something unpleasant...

Seriously though? Was he asking for an imprint of a frying pan on his face? I had enough to deal with—mainly these stupid dishes—I certainly didn't want to deal with him as well. Sighing, I finally turned around and answered, "Just peachy, Jack, just peachy till you waltzed right in here like you own the place." I partially lied; I was _not_ peachy by all means. Miserable would be the correct term. But I wouldn't dare tell Jack that.

_Stupid dishes..._

"Aww, Ann, that hurts you know." He tried sounding all hurt, but I knew he was pretending. He just wanted me to play along which naturally I stupidly did.

"You'll survive, Jack."

"Why yes I will with you around."

"Go away." I turned back facing the sink, hiding a rather small blush. He had been doing that lately... or I should say more frequently.

As if I had just invited him over, he sauntered towards me. Course, I didn't see him per say, but a glimpse of his figure in the corner of my eye showed me that he had no plans on leaving anytime soon. He leaned his arm on the counter, almost knocking down some dishes. "Dishes?"

"Ya got a problem with that?" I snapped as I turned my head towards him.

"No."

"Good! Then you wouldn't mind doing them for me then!" I certainly didn't want to do them. And if I could get him to do it, that would make my day... sort of. I just had to think of a way to blackmail him into it.

"What would your dad say? Besides, I rather watch you do them; I enjoy watching you, Ann." Naturally, he _had_ to wink which was lately getting quite annoying fast. Like seriously! Did he recently took lessons from Kai? Kai... I made a mental note to put itching powder in his purple underwear next summer he arrives. That'll show him! Hehe.

Anyways, what kind of guy would wear purple underwear to begin with? I should have put itching powder in them looong ago. Purple underwear... Only Kai.

I quickly snapped back to reality, realizing he had been staring at me for quite some time which to say the least was uncomfortable. How long was I dazed out? Aww, crap! He probably thought _I_ too was staring. _Stupid Kai and his purple underwear..._

Jack was fortunate: fortunate that the frying pan wasn't in the sink; that it already had been washed; that I couldn't really smack the smirk off his stupid face. But then I remembered that a pot was still in the sink, soaking. I preferred if it was a frying pan: it has more surface area; but a pot certainly was just as good. I evilly grinned as I took it out of the water. Jack saw this and immediately backed away. So he wasn't dumb after all, though it's hard to tell sometimes the way he purposely annoys the hell out of me.

"Ann? Uh, what are you doing?" he asked somewhat nervously.

"Now? Trying to get a certain someone the hell outta here so that I can finish these—these dam dishes! Now get out!" I yelled, putting on my best glaring face.

But of course he couldn't be like anybody else and leave—no! This was Jack after all, the one person who could _really_ get on my nerves. And to be honest, I didn't even know how or why.

So what did he do? He relaxed his somewhat tense/nervous stance and just smirked. Smirked. At me! Holding a pot! He certainly had a death wish. Maybe he really was as dumb as he looked. His stupid smirk only angered me all the more, but not nearly as much- "You're quite pretty when you're angry, Ann." -as that!

Even though I was slightly blushing from what he had said, I was in attack mode, ready to hit him with the pot with all my strength. But of course dear ol' Dad had to come in right at that moment. Of all the moments, it would have to be that one...

He stopped and looked at us and we at him; then his attention turned to the pot in my hand. _Yup, busted._ He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a disapproving look. "Ann, just what are you planning to do with that pot?"

_Oh, not much, Dad. I just wanted to smack Jack senseless with this pot here so that he would _finally_ leave me alone. _But knowing Jack he probably wouldn't have...

That's what I wanted to say, but I lamely managed, "I, uh... air dry the pot?" thinking nothing of the fact that the pot had foams of soap still on it.

"Mmmhmm..."

"I..." I dropped my arm, which had the pot, down. I knew that we were going to have another one of those talks, specifically about "beating the customers to a pulp" and how it's bad for business. I thought back to the the incident that I did. Poor Kai... he had no idea what was coming to him, but he had pushed my buttons the wrong way that day; so it served him right! Hehe.

"Well..." Jack cut in, glancing around the room, "This is awkward. I think I should get going now: gotta feed my chickens."

At night? Why the hell did he come here to bug me in the first place? Or was he just saying that to 'excuse' himself. Argh! Sometimes I just wanted to punch him. Or... **No!** A thousand times no!

"Your always welcome here, Jack." my father said. I slightly groaned and rolled my eyes. Jack certainly wasn't welcomed here... at least not by me.

"Thanks Doug." he remarked as he headed for the exit, which was about freaking time! As he left though, he _had_ to say something to me. "Always a pleasure, Annie."

_He did not just call me that!_ I raised the pot back up, ready to dash at him; but my dad came over and snatched the pot out of my grasp. And even if he hadn't, I wouldn't really have the chance to inflict some pain to Jack since he was long gone. That still wouldn't have stopped me from chasing after him with it.

Throwing the pot back in the sink, my dad began the scolding, "Ann, what has gotten into you? You don't go around with a pot in hand and threaten to beat someone to a pulp!-"

"I wasn't threatening, Dad. I actually was going to do it."

"Ann!"

"It's true!"

"Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking, young lady!" he sternly rebuked, "Jack's a nice boy; I don't understand why you have to lose your temper at him. What did he ever do to you?"

_Annoy the hell outta me that's what._

Though one thing was nagging me: when did all of this happened in the first place? I couldn't really answer that cause I really didn't know myself. He just... annoyed me—annoyed me with his stupid face, his stupid look, his stupid jokes, his stupid everything! Though oddly enough, he wasn't that bad to look at and I could see myself-

_What the... **for crying out loud! I don't like him!**_

Did I? Nah, course not! He's-

"_Ann!_" My dad's annoyed tone jolted me back from my runaway thoughts.

"I don't know! He just annoys me!" I shouted, flailing my arms. Surprisingly, I remembered what my dad asked which normally when thinking I don't. I was quite proud of myself.

"My dear daughter..." he trailed off, shaking his head. That was definitely a sign for something sentimental coming. But- "I guess I won't be seeing any grandkids before I die." he sighed heavily as he went from angry mode to depressed mode.

Of course... It would _have_ to be _that_; I should have seen this coming since it had been awhile since Dad brought the subject up. Marriage—something I wasn't planning anytime soon. I was, after all, quite happy being Ann—the wonderful, spectacular, awesome Ann! And single! Marriage was sooo off my radar. But why did he all of a sudden bring it up? Now of all times... after Jack had-

Ah hell no!

Was my dad insinuating for me and... dare I say it? No, no, no, no, just no! Jack as a husband? Spending twenty-four/seven with him? Hell no! Spending the day with Rick, the chicken lover, sounded a hell of a lot better than _that_. Though in retrospect...

_No, nope, no, just no._

I pushed _those_ thoughts away, well, at least tried my best. "Dad! How many times I have to tell you! I am quite happy the way I am! I don't need some guy in my life! And certainly not Jack!" Okay, so that wasn't what I had planned to say... sort of. Dammit! Why did I have to bring Jack up when my Dad didn't? He only hinted at it!

He raised his eyebrow, "I never said Jack, Ann. But now that you mention him..."

"Dad!"

"Ann, he would make a great husband to you: he's hard working, responsible, and a nice young man. Get to know him. I'm not going to be around forever, you know." He then started towards the door, which kind of shocked me. I did, after all, had 'threatened' Jack with a pot; ya think Dad would ground me or something, not like I was _really_ complaining. Turning his head towards me, he mentioned one last thing, "And please, Ann. Don't threaten anymore customers." And he left.

_It wasn't a threat..._ I thought to myself. _And I already _know_ him. "_More than I want to..." I muttered to myself.

I looked back to the remaining dishes and sighed heavily. "Back to these dam dishes..." I muttered again to myself while taking a dish out of the sink to rinse.

Did I mentioned that I hated washing dishes?


	2. Chapter 2

I stormed into the back room and threw the dishes into the sink, almost giving my dad a heart attack. Course, I didn't know he was in there; otherwise, I would've kept my cool... to some extent. ...Nah, I probably would've done the same thing.

"Ann?" he said as I heard a door close; he must have been in his room, probably looking for something to show the drunk Duke. When Duke was drunk, he was always entertained by the smallest things. Even a red laser light. Reminded me of our cat.

I remained quiet, brewing in my anger... or whatever the hell I was feeling cause I certainly didn't know what my emotions were. They were all a jumbled mess. And I certainly did _not_ want to discuss them with my dad right now. Or even ever cause I knew where that would lead.

"Is something the matter?" my dad inquired.

"It's nothing." I muttered as I filled the other sink with water then poured dish soap. For some reason, I wanted to do them willingly, a first for me.

"Ann, I can see right through you; it's not nothing: it's something. Mind telling me?"

"No!" I snapped, "Just let me do the dishes!"

My dad gave up, knowing full well I had _no_ intention on talking about it... at least not at the moment. When I didn't wanna talk, I didn't wanna talk. Dad knew this about me; he was good that way. I knew he would immediately know why I acted the way I did once he entered back into the main part of the Inn.

My theory was proven correct when I heard him mumbled an "oh" as he left.

Dropping the dishes into the now soapy water, I began to wonder off in my thoughts. Why did every single dating couple decided to, on the same night, have food in the Inn? Like as in dates. Like come on! I was used to the odd couple coming in for food, but all of them? For some reason it really bugged me. And I didn't exactly know why... and _that_ bugged me even more!

But I had to admit: I was pretty happy for all of them. How could one not be? They were still my friends.

Elli and Trent—when Elli dashed into the Inn one day like a mad woman, I first thought it had been an extreme emergency relating to her grandmother. But then I saw her beaming smile or rather grin, and that's when I knew it was something good. She told me that Trent had _finally_, after she waited for a _millennium _(she used that exact word), asked her out on an official date. Trent was always cautious—_way_ too cautious. Maybe that was why he took as long as he did to muster the courage to ask her out. And he was always somewhat... distant, well, at least I found him to be that way. How Elli fell for him would remain a mystery to me.

Then there was Karen and Rick. I always knew they would become a couple. Even when we were kids I knew. But their relationship wasn't exactly a normal one per say. Anytime Karen drank too much (and she did _a lot_ of times), Rick was always nearby, ready to help her back home. Gotta admit, he certainly was a gentleman in that area. Though he didn't know how to hold his ground anytime Karen was either mad or being bossy. But as long as it worked for them—who's to question it?

Now Cliff and Popuri—I never expected that. I never really found out how it really happened, but rumor had it that Popuri one day got fed up with Kai since he never stayed, no matter how much she begged him to. Of course, being Popuri she cried afterward, even though she knew that she had done the right thing. Then I guess Cliff made his move—which was something I never expected either. He was always shy and quiet; how he managed to ask her out was a total mystery to me. A shy guy and a hyper, childish young woman—not a combination I had thought would even work, but it did.

Even Kai and Mary was one thing I never expected either. Even though Kai wasn't currently here in Mineral Town, he still was able to have a romantic dinner with Mary at the Inn via video chat. That to me—just plain corny. Only Kai...

The flirt and the intelligent maiden. How Mary fell for him was another mystery to me. But Mary always kept him in line whenever he visited in the summer times... to some extent. He was still the same ol' Kai just a bit tamed.

Naturally when all people started coupling up and such, Dad _had_ to say something about it to me. He specifically brought it up when Cliff and Popuri became a couple. He just simply _had_ to tell me that that could have been me, that I had a chance with him, a lot more than Popuri did, and that he was hoping that we would get together. But I never really wanted to.

Yeah, Cliff was nice and all, and we did sort of went out for a bit (of course, I found out later that my dad pushed Cliff into it); but really, he wasn't my type. He even told me one time (after a lot of stuttering) that he liked me and that I reminded him of his sister back home. How could I possibly have a boyfriend who thinks that? I certainly didn't want one who, every time he would look at me, thought I looked like his sister. Nope!

…that's _if_ I wanted a boyfriend, which I didn't...

_Then why the hell are my emotions saying otherwise..._ I thought to myself.

Clearly, I had issues.

Oh, and to top it all off, even that antisocial jerk had a girl! And _that's_ saying a lot! I _never_ expected Gray to end up with Claire of all people—Jack's young bubbly sister. ...Alright, I sort of expected it since I secretly wanted it to happen. I had to admit, they made the cutest couple. And Claire really turned Gray from being grouchy and miserable all the time to someone who was somewhat pleasant to be around... though he still was grumpy at times, but that wasn't too often, not like before anyways.

Maybe deep down I wanted someone like my friends had. But at the same time, I didn't really like the idea. I was, after all, the amazing Ann who needed nobody!

My emotions, thoughts, and feelings were _definitely_ jumbled...

I gripped the counter as I thought through everything. Then in the corner of my eye, I noticed a figure, standing beside me. How long was I thinking? "Grip that counter any harder, Ann, and you might just rip it off."

What was _he_ doing here?

Snapping fully back into reality, I quickly began to do the dishes. "Jack, leave me alone; I don't have the time to deal with you, and I'm certainly not in the mood either."

He remained silent for a little while; at least he was quiet. But I knew that wouldn't last long. He was probably thinking what his next move would be. Typical Jack. He would probably say- "Ann, do you mind if I help? ...That's if you want it..." he trailed off. What did he just say?

That was _so_ not Jack; it couldn't have been. Maybe I didn't really know Jack like I thought I did... or maybe I did and this was his latest attempt, latest attempt to get smacked that is.

I stopped what I was doing and just stared at him while studying his face to see if he really meant what he said. And what even more shocked me was that he meant it—every _single_ _word_. "Why?" I asked him. My voice was on the verge of cracking up. Greaat...

He avoided eye contact and stared at the counter. "Not much to do. I finished my chores long ago, and every guy is with their girl. So, I really don't fit out there. You're dad said you were back here, but I can see that you're busy, so-"

"Here." I shoved a dish in his face causing him to jump slightly. "Start rinsing." Why I did that... don't ask me! I didn't know... exactly.

He blinked at me then did what he was told. Now _that_ was a first, but at least I had someone to help me with these stupid dishes.

Neither one of us spoke while washing the dishes, and I preferred that way. I washed; he rinsed. It was that simple... Of course, things with Jack never were _that_ simple.

For some reason, Jack decided to use the sink spray. Why he did—I really to be honest didn't want to know. Maybe he thought it was easier that way. I didn't question him on it, but rather I continued washing.

I drew the line when he 'accidentally' sprayed me with the sink spray. He tried denying it—saying that it really was an accident, but I wasn't buying it at all. Though I decided to give him a _one_ free pass. Why I did that in the first place—I hadn't a clue on that one. But if he did it again, I wasn't going to be that merciful.

We continued with the dishes—and there were _a lot—_till he did it again. I stared at the other sink spray, thinking if I should. Why Dad decided to get two sink sprays, I never really understood that one—oh wait, I did. Dad didn't decide to get two but rather told the plumber that he wanted one sink spray, but I guess the plumber thought Dad said two; so he gave us two, one on either side of the tap.

I never did like the look of the two sink sprays, and I always wanted to strangle the plumber for giving us two—just because. But today, I was rather thankful that the plumber misunderstood my Dad.

I grabbed the other sink spray and 'accidentally' sprayed Jack with it. Of course, I sprayed him a lot more than he did me. Hey, he asked for it. "What was that for?" he demanded.

"You know exactly what it was for, Jack" I said, still holding my sink spray.

"I told you: they were accidents!"

"Yeah right." I remarked sarcastically, dragging each word.

He paused for a bit as if he was thinking something through. "Now this," he grabbed the other sink spray then spayed me... again, "no accident there." he smirked. Not exactly the smartest thing to do right there, especially to someone who had the _other_ sink spray.

I quickly sprayed him again; and he returned fire. Before we knew it, we had a spray war on our hands. It was a good thing that those sink sprays had long cords on them; otherwise, neither one of us would have been able to use the island in the kitchen as cover, not that it did much good.

_Dad is so going to kill us... well, me._

Laughter erupted from the two of us. As much as I hated to admit it, I was having a lot of fun, even if it was with Jack. Maybe I had him all wrong... well, partially wrong. After all, I had a reputation to uphold—of being right all the time.

And maybe he was somewhat of a pleasant person—_somewhat_ being the key word here. I wasn't exactly his number one fan after all. But he did looked rather cute with his soaking wet dark brown hair, since his hat was off. I did not just say that! What was with me?

But soon the fun was over when my dad came in, probably wondering what was all the ruckus. We both stopped spraying each other and stared at my dad as if we were deers caught in a headlight. _I am _so_ dead_. "Ann! What the hell are you doing?" he yelled at us or rather more specifically at me.

I giggled rather pathetically, "Uh, doing dishes?"

He shook his head in disbelief, "Look at this kitchen!" he waved his hands all around the room, "Everywhere there's water! My kitchen here is _**not**_ a water park!" My dad rubbed his forehead, trying to calm down. "Ann," _The moment of truth_, "go to your room and change into some dry clothes." _Well, that wasn't so bad-_ "We'll talk later." _-spoke too soon._

I slowly made my way towards my room. "Jack," I heard my dad, "I have some dry clothes in my room you may borrow. Follow me: I'll show you." When I reached my door, I looked back and made eye contact with Jack. Both of us snickered as we went inside our respective rooms.

"Gotta admit," I spoke to myself as I stripped down and wiped my body down with a towel; luckily, I always kept some towels in my room, "Jack's not as bad as I thought. I had a lot of fun!" Though it didn't necessarily meant I liked him or anything... okay, maybe it did... a little. But I would never tell Jack that.

Or maybe I had always liked him I just never had the guts to admit to myself. He was quite good looking and strong and—yeah, clearly my hormones were saying one thing while the rational side of me was saying something else.

Finished changing into some dry clothes, I plopped myself onto my bed. "My feelings are so complicated and messed up... why does everything have to be complicated?" I muttered to myself. I played around with my damp ginger-colored braid while staring at my floor.

A knock at my door soon interrupted my alone time. "It's unlocked!" I shouted.

As the door opened, I turned my head and saw none other than Jack, the very person I was trying to figure out. He wore one of my dad's white shirts and black pants, both being a bit big on him. Even the shoes he wore was a bit big itself. I snickered at the sight.

"Hardy har har, Ann. It's your fault you know." He tried sounding serious but failed miserably.

"It's just as much as your fault as it is mine." I smirked.

"Touche, touche." He came towards me and sat down beside me.

Awkward silence soon befell us. Occasionally, I would glance at him but then quickly turned away when he glanced back. Okay, maybe I did have a _slight_ crush on him or... hell, I didn't know. I certainly was no expect on those matters when it came to myself.

I soon found myself staring at the floor. But then I sensed that he was staring at me—not exactly _sensed_ but I felt his stare burrowing through me if that made any sense. (No pun intended at all.) Surprisingly, a small blush crept onto my face. "Ann, look at me." His voice sounded so gentle and pleasant that butterflies fluttered in my stomach. That was something I never had expected, especially considering that Jack was the source of them.

I slowly turned my head towards him. As my blue eyes met his deep brown ones, I immediately got lost in them. They were so... He slowly raised his hand to my face and gently stroked my cheek with his thumb. I thought that I would completely melt right there.

But before I could say anything—as if I was able to—he soon cradled my head with both of his hands and pressed his lips onto mine. _That_ action certainly caused me to melt inwardly. And yes, I enjoyed it quite a lot, in fact, more than I really had expected. Even if it was a bit creepy that Jack was wearing some of my dad's clothing, not that it really mattered.

But this was Jack after all; the one man who could ruin a beautiful moment, which like I said, I rather enjoyed. After he pulled away much to my disappointment, he then said something which infuriated me, "See ya later, Ann." Then he did the next thing which _really_ ticked me off: he _left_ my room.

"That idiotic _asshole_." I muttered to myself.

Two things I wanted to do: scream like a school girl and punch the living day lights out of that... that... that _idiot_! How could he just up and leave like that? Without even having a decent conversation of what had happened!

Now I was even _more_ confused with my emotions and feelings, all thanks to that idiot. Just when I thought I figured my feelings out.

To top it all off, Dad came in and told me that I had to help him clean up the water mess in the kitchen. But I looked at the bright side of cleaning the mess (which really, wasn't that bad): I had plenty of time to plan out the most painful way to torture Jack... or kill him, one of the two.


	3. Chapter 3

"Karen! I never see you here around lunch time. What brings you here?" I asked the dirty blonde-haired woman in front of me.

"Uhh, lunch, silly!" Karen chuckled as she placed her elbows on the counter. "I just decided to have it here instead of eating at home." Knowing Karen, it was probably because she tried cooking again in her mom's kitchen and well... let's just say when she does, the kitchen becomes unrecognizable. One of the reasons why I _never_ allowed Karen to borrow our kitchen. As much as I enjoyed cleaning, I didn't want to clean _that_ mess.

"Alright, whatcha want?" I asked, ready to take her order.

"Hmm, I guess a burger and some fries will do."

"And I'll have the same thing, Ann." a blonde-haired woman remarked as she, out of nowhere, sat down beside Karen.

Karen practically jumped out of her seat. "Whoa, Claire. I did not hear you coming. You're like a ninja!"

"Maybe I really am, and all of you are my targets!" Claire grinned evilly. If that was the case, I might hire her.

"Anyways," I interrupted the conversation, "I'll be back in a jiffy to get your orders."

"Not so fast, Ann" What did Karen want now? "What's going on between you and Jack?"

"Nothing!" I snapped. What the hell gave Karen the idea that there was anything happening? There was _nothing_ going on... except for the _incident_ that happened last night. I still was angry at him. But it wasn't as if she knew about that.

"Oooo! Ann and my brother! That would explain why he came home with different clothes."

Karen then gasped, "Claire, you don't think-"

"**Karen! You have a dirty mind!**" I yelled as loud as I could. Everyone in the Inn stared at us or more specifically at me, but I couldn't care less. "Before you two spread inappropriate rumors—we had a little water fight with the sink sprayers! _That's it!_" Only Karen...

"Alright, Ann, alright. We believe you; calm down."

"I am calm!" I shouted. Now that was irony right there.

I stormed into the back room then prepared their orders, grumbling in the progress. I didn't care if Dad was in there as well. I was mad. But I wasn't mad at Karen and Claire, two of my best friends. They just misunderstood. No, I was mad at Jack. _He_ was the reason why my mood was foul or rather his little incident he did was the reason.

That jerk! What had he expected me to do? Chase after him? Ha! In his dreams! Come to think of it, I would chase after him—while clutching a frying pan!

"Ann?" Crap. He noticed me slamming everything down as I was cooking. Luckily, I was practically done when he spoke up.

"Not now, Dad. I have two orders to serve here." I quickly spoke up so that he couldn't further inquire. Eventually though he would have to know... but not now.

I exited the room. "Here are your orders." I muttered as I slammed the dishes down onto the counter.

"Whoa, Ann, what has gotten into you?" Karen nosily inquired, which she quite frankly did a lot, especially concerning me. "Something tells me that the water fight wasn't the only thing that happened."

"As if it's any of your dam business, Karen!" I snapped.

"Ann-"

I didn't hear what else Karen had to say since I stormed back into the back. And I didn't wanna hear it from her. Cause I knew what exactly I had to do. "Dad, since there aren't many people in the Inn today, I was thinking of going out just now."

"Sure, but-" I exited the room, not caring what else Dad had to say. I did, after all, got permission to go. And I certainly didn't have the time for twenty questions.

Both Karen and Claire gave me puzzled looks as I rushed passed them and out the Inn. Let them be puzzled. I had more important issues here.

Where was I going? None other than the asshole's farm. I originally was going to head to his place last night, buut Dad wanted me to help clean the kitchen up from the water mess. And by the time I finished with the cleaning—and receiving a lecture from him in the process—it was very late out... and I was quite tired.

I passed Duke's vineyard and the Blacksmith. Not so surprising, I heard shouting from the Blacksmith. That could only mean one thing: Gray and his grandfather Saibara were having another argument. Some things never change; though their arguments were less frequent. That, no doubt, was because of Claire.

But I wasn't about to dwell on the relationship of Gray and Claire. No, I had some unfinished business to take care of involving Jack. And soon, as I approached his farm, I was going to execute my plan.

The plan: slap him and demand answers. It really was fool-proofed... at least I thought it was. It was quite simple: how could it fail?

When I entered onto his farm, the sight before me really was amazing. The field once looked as if a nature bomb had exploded, but now it was filled with growing crops. There even was a fenced off area where cows, sheep, and a horse were grazing. And another fenced off area where chickens were clucking and pecking the ground happily.

Even the buildings were a sight to see. Once old and broken down—now they looked as if they were brand new.

But now wasn't the time to be sight seeing; I had a job to do. My target: Jack.

I immediately found Jack in his field, toiling away. Of course, he never saw me marching towards him since his back faced the entrance of his farm. He actually looked rather cute working away in—NO! I was here for a reason, and it certainly wasn't to drool or gawk.

I tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention. Startled, he turned around to see who had interrupted him. When he saw me, he grinned but quickly wiped it off as he touched his face. Yup! I did indeed! I had slapped that stupid grin off his face as soon as he faced me.

"Ann, what the-" I quickly cut him off by cupping his face and ferociously planting my lips on his all while blushing like one of his red tomatoes. It didn't take him long to start kissing me back. Crap. That was _so_ not part of the plan—none of it was, but my body definitely didn't care... Aww, screw the plan! I was winging this one!

He dropped his tool he was holding and wrapped his arms around my waist as I slipped my arms around his neck. Right there I realized how deeply I had fallen for him, even though I never would have admitted it to anyone. Maybe that was why I had acted the way I did before.

I didn't know nor cared. All I cared about was the fact that my lips were currently locked with the most attractive man on the planet.

He slowly pulled away from my lips then pressed his forehead on mine. "Annie, you're one of a kind; that's why I fell for you, hard."

"Don't push your luck, Jack." I tried sounding threatening but couldn't since I was still blushing.

He brushed my lips with his thumb causing my heart to beat faster. "I think I already did." Maybe it was alright if he had called me Annie... just this once.

Just as he was about to return his lips onto mine, we both heard cheers coming from the entrance to his farm. We turned our heads in the direction and saw Claire and Karen. Had they been spying? No, we would have heard them long ago. But the fact still remained: they _were_ spying. Dammit! They were using my tools against me!

"Oooo! Looks like my brother landed himself a woman!" the blonde teased as her and Karen walked closer to our location.

"It's about time!" Karen commented.

"Claire, aren't you suppose to be at the Inn?" Jack asked his sister.

"Isn't Ann suppose to be at the Inn?" she countered.

I was about to respond, but Jack beat me to it, "No, she's suppose to have lunch with me today." he said as he returned his gaze onto me. "That's if you want to." he whispered. I blushed yet again when I glanced at him.

"Fantastic! I can make us food, though Gr-"

"No, Claire. I was thinking of just me and Ann, specifically for a picnic. And you and Gray already made plans at the Inn."

I looked back at my two friends. "Well, you two heard him; so, shoo! I'll deal with you two later."

"Fiiiine" they both chimed. They then turned around and left, giggling all the way off the farm. Something told me that we would be the talk of the town.

He grabbed my two hands which were still behind his neck and kissed both of them. "Wait out here. I'll go get us some food for us to take on our picnic." He started to head to his house; but I quickly grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him towards me, and kissed him. "Ann?" he mumbled in between a kiss.

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah." I broke off the kiss. He only grinned. He then kissed my forehead and headed into his house.

I sighed dreamily as I walked towards a nearby tree. I had it _bad_. I never thought I would, but I did. I guess even I wasn't invulnerable to this new feeling.

Though if I had been told two weeks ago that I would kiss Jack and enjoy it, I would have laughed so hard and say, "You high or something?" Either that or smash the first thing that came into my sights. Or both.

Jack soon exited his house, carrying a basket. _That was quick._ "You ready?" he asked me.

"Yeah, just one question: why did you walk right out of my room last night without so much as an explanation or a discussion of what happened." So I did follow my original plan... but not without a pleasant distraction.

"It was late, Ann. That and I kind of wanted to avoid a conversation with your dad at that moment." That made sense to me: Dad would have... actually, I didn't know what he would have done, but I guaranteed it would have been something embarrassing.

As we headed towards the forest, he grabbed my hand which naturally caused me to blush. Jack—for the longest time I never expected to fall for a man like him, the way he annoyed the hell out of me; but now I realized that he had my heart for the longest time.

Maybe dishes weren't that bad; they were, after all, the things which helped bring me closer to Jack... in a small way.

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**And that's that! :D  
It was horrible, wasn't it...  
(didn't help when the summary was horrid itself lol!)  
So whether you liked it or didn't - review! :)  
Feed back is definitely most welcomed here!  
I really would love to know what you people think. Like is it good? Average? Bad? Do I need to improve? Like that. ^.^  
**

**Alrighty! I guess I should really get cracking down on chapter 14 of _A Secret Not So Secret_ before I get shot by my readers lol! I'm kind of regretting leaving it on a cliff hanger in chapter 13...  
**

**Thanks for reading by the way! XD  
**


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